Labre was born on 26 March 1748 in the village of
Amettes, near
Arras, in the former
Province of
Artois in the north of France. He was the eldest of fifteen children of a prosperous shopkeeper, Jean-Baptiste Labre, and his wife, Anne Grandsire. Labre had an uncle, a
parish priest, living some distance from his family home, who received Labre and undertook his early education for the priesthood. At the age of 16, he approached his uncle about becoming a
Trappist monk, but was rebuffed by his parents, who wanted him to wait until he was older to do so. When he was about 18, an epidemic struck the city. Labre’s uncle took care of the sick people, while Labre cared for the city's cattle. Among the last victims of the epidemic was Labre's uncle. (1752–1795) Following the epidemic, Labre set off for
La Trappe Abbey to apply to the Trappist Order, but was refused on grounds of being under age, too delicate, and having no special recommendations. He later attempted to join the
Carthusians and
Cistercians, but each order rejected him as unsuitable for communal life. He was, for about six weeks, a postulant with the Carthusians at Neuville. In November 1769 he obtained admission to the Cistercian Abbey of Sept-Fonts. After a short stay at Sept-Fonts his health gave way, and it was decided that his vocation lay elsewhere. He lived on what little he was given, and often shared the little he did receive with others. He is reported to have talked rarely, prayed often, and accepted quietly the abuse he received. In so doing, Labre was following in the role of the mendicant, the "
Fool-for-Christ," found more often in the
Eastern Orthodox Church. Labre spent many hours in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. He would often swoon when contemplating the
crown of thorns, in particular, and, during these states, it is said he would levitate or
bilocate. He was also said to have cured some of the other homeless people he met and to have multiplied bread for them. In the last years of his life, he lived in
Rome, for a time living in the ruins of the
Colosseum, and would leave only to make a yearly pilgrimage to the shrine of
Our Lady of Loreto. He was a familiar figure in the city and known as the "saint of the
Forty Hours" (or ) for his dedication to
Eucharistic adoration. The day before he died, Labre collapsed on the steps of the church of
Santa Maria ai Monti, blocks from the Colosseum, and despite his protestations was taken to a house behind the church at Via dei Serpenti 2. He died there of malnutrition and exhaustion on 16 April 1783, during
Holy Week, and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria ai Monti. ==Veneration==